As they did last season, the Hawks will play their exhibition home games at McCamish Pavilion on the campus of Georgia Tech this year with games on Oct. 1 and 10. The team held preseason games outside Philips Arena as a precaution last season.

The Hawks also began last season on the road as they started with a five-game trip to Dallas, Charlotte, Brooklyn, Miami and Chicago following Phase 1 of the project. The home opener was Oct. 27.

The major work on the arena began in April 2017 and it was returned to the Hawks for the 2017-18 season. Phase 2 of the project was done behind the scenes during last season. Following the campaign, the most extensive arena work began this year.

When the makeover is completed, the arena’s seating capacity will be about 17,500. The Hawks listed last season’s capacity as 15,711, down from 18,047 before renovations. Many of the lost seats will be regained when the former wall of suites is repurposed with two levels of suites (“Veranda suites” on one row, “loft suites” on the other), Topgolf and new upper-deck seating.